CHAPTER 2
1453 Words
After school, the sky glowed orange behind the wet streets while Leon drove Lisa home.
Jake was lazily browsing through music ,his mind wandering elsewhere as the minutes ticked by, and before he knew it, they had arrived at Lisa's house.
"Hey, do you wanna hang out tonight?" Jake said to Lisa as she picked up her backpack.
"My mom said I should help Dorothy with her school project tonight, so ...... maybe sometime this week."
Jake looked horrified.
" 'I’d rather fight a bear than help a child with homework , helping a child with homework is a bit scary."
"Jake please, you can't even do homework to save your life "
Jake responded dramatically, placing a hand on his chest,
“See you tomorrow boys” said Lisa as she closed the door behind her.
“Bye girl.”
Leon nodded before he drove away.
Inside the house Lisa went upstairs to her bedroom and quickly changed into a pair of comfortable sweatpants before throwing herself on top of the bed.
Immediately her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Lisa frowned briefly and for a second, she almost ignored it before opening the message.
"You looked pretty today."
Lisa stared at the screen.For a second, she almost ignored it. Then she sat up straight.
Lisa: Who is this?
Three dots appeared immediately.
Then disappeared.
Then came back.
Unknown Number: You know who it is.
Her heart beat harder.
Lisa: How did you get my number?
No response.
For a full ten seconds.
Then—
Lisa: Who are you?
A pause.
Then
Unknown Number: Cole
Lisa’s cheeks heated immediately.
Her pulse now doing something deeply embarrassing.
Some hours later after finishing helping Dorothy with her project Lisa barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, the text messages replayed inside her head.
Her bedroom remained dark except for the soft glow from her phone screen.
She stared at Cole Bennett’s contact for several long seconds before finally typing.
> How did you even get my number?
> I get around you know.
Then three smiley emoji's appeared. Was Lisa supposed to be impressed?
Lisa couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't get over the excitement that she got a text from Cole Bennett and at the same time she was also confused as to why Cole would text her. Outside thunder rumbled in a distance as rain tapped softly on the roof.
Another message came through.
> Do you know what crossed my mind when I saw you today.
Lisa stared at her phone ,Her stomach twisted.A moment passed. Then three tiny marks showed up right away.
> How well do you know Jake and Leon.
Lisa blinked.
For a breath, her hands hung above the keys, she was a bit disappointed because why would Cole ask about the twin's.
Lisa frowned before she replied "They're like family, why."
This time, the typing bubble lingered. A pause appeared. Seconds passed without movement. The silence on screen grew heavier. Still nothing came through.A moment passed.No response came after that.
The conversation ended as suddenly as it started.Lisa couldn't help but keep her eyes fixed on the screen, hoping that another message would pop up at any moment.
At the Harrison's house Leon sat awake on the edge of his bed staring blankly at the city skyline outside his bedroom window and as always Jake walked in without knocking and jumped on the couch carelessly.
Leon sighed.
“What do you want?” Leon asked in a serious tone.
" You know, you've been acting weird since lunch today"
Leon rubbed his hand across his face, exhausted.
He never talked about his emotions . Jake leaned back and tucked his hands under his neck, and stared at his brother .
"Do you wanna talk about it?" . For the second time his brother stayed quiet. The silence itself was enough.
The next morning it had stopped raining. Lisa was sitting at the kitchen counter stirring a bowl of cereal idly while rereading Cole's messages. Dorothy noticed and squinted her eyes at her sister.
"You're smiling."
Lisa nearly dropped her spoon.
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“No, I’m not.”
Lisa threw a napkin at her younger sister.
A car honked outside.
Lisa stood up immediately and grabbed her bag.
"Bye, Mom!"
" Bye, honey."
Jake leaned on the car seat the moment Lisa got in.
“You look suspicious today.”
"No I don't"
The ride to school had only lasted five minutes before chaos started.
Jake reached for the aux. Lisa leaned forward between the seats and slapped his hand away immediately.
"No."
Jake looked offended.
"No?"
"No."
"You haven't even heard my song yet."
"I do not need to. The last time you chose a song it was a six-minute motivational rap about success."
Jake gasped.
"But it was a hit and you have to admit it changed lives."
"It changed mine," Lisa said with an annoyed face. "For worse."
Leon sighed quietly as he drove.
" Guy's please don't start."
But it was too late. The quarrel went on and on till they arrived at school. School felt unusually alive that morning.Whispers travelled through the corridors.Girls fixing their hair near the lockers and groups speaking more loudly than usual.
Lisa frowned slightly.
"What's going on?"
Martha sneaked beside her.
"The transfer student is here."
Jake groaned aloud from behind.
"Can we stop referring to him as the transfer student, as if he were some mysterious vampire?"
Aliya shrugged her shoulders.
"To be honest, he looks like one."
Jake unbelievably raised his eyebrows.
Lisa couldn't help smiling as she opened her locker.
Then suddenly the hallway noise subtly shifted.But enough to feel it. Lisa looked up and saw him. Cole Bennet walked through the corridor while students openly stared. His eyes wandered slowly down the hallway as if searching for something then finally landed on Lisa.
Lisa’s stomach tightened unexpectedly. And suddenly the hallway felt too small.
"Hey beautiful," he said in a very casual tone.
For a second Lisa just looked at him.
" I'm sorry for disappearing on you last night."
Leon didn't even let her say anything before unintentionally stepping forward.
"Come on Lisa, we're gonna be late for class ."
Lisa blinked.
“What—?”
Before she could even finish, Leon was already walking away and like always she followed.
Cole laughed.
"See you later, Lisa,” he called casually.
All of a sudden girls went quite when Lisa passed by. She got glances and mean looks, even Martha noticed.
"Lol, girls are so weird."
The classes dragged slowly, teachers talked, pens scratched papers.The pages turned. And somehow .Not even the chemistry lesson, which Lisa hated so much seemed to bother her.Her thoughts drifted and she caught herself looking at her phone under the desk multiple times, she couldn't help it.
Finally the bell rang. Chairs scrapped. Bag's zipped. Break time.Leon stood nearby, as quiet as usual.
"Are you coming?"
Lisa adjusted her bag.
" Hold the bag for me I need to use the bathroom first."
The moment Lisa walked in the bathroom.There were three girls standing close to the mirror.
One fixing her lip gloss, the other leaning against the counter while the third one was busy scrolling through her phone.
Now they're all staring at her.
Lisa hesitated.
The first girl glanced at another.
then chuckled quietly.
Not politely.
One of them passed a remark " Well well well, look who's here, you seem to move quickly don't you?"
Lisa paused
The one who was busy scrolling through her phone immediately went and locked the door behind.
"Ummm... What is going on?"
The girl’s expression changed instantly.
"You have the nerve don't you?"
"I just wanna use the bathroom, trust me I'm not looking for trouble"
“ ooh honey.. don’t make this a thing.”
Lisa frowned.
“What thing?”
The shortest girl immediately burst out laughing and crossed her arms. "You think you're special don't you, just because he smiles at you , you think you made it in life?
Like everybody should already understand.Lisa swallowed.
“You mean Cole?”
The lip gloss girl stepped forward, Lisa tried to take a step back, but the other girl got in her way. "He's not yours," she said, her voice firm and threatening. "If you continue to wrap yourself around him, you'll be sorry. You have no idea what he's really like, and you definitely don't know what we're capable of. So, back off, before things get ugly."
Lisa shifted awkwardly. The girl's laughed and pushed past her leaving the door swinging.
- Writer
